Saturday, November 17, 2012

Turkish Asure/Asurah/Noah's PuddingIt is very common to cook asure in Turkey in the first month of lunar calendar.The story of this desert is as follows: When Prophet Noah’s ark came to rest on Mount Ararat ,they didnot enough food so they put everything they had together and coked asure!It is believed that cooking asure will bring blessings to the household during that year.We share it with neighbors and friends as much as possible and spread the joy!12.21.2010And finally I am ready to share the recipe of my a little different , yet tasteful Asure/ Ashura / Noah's pudding recipe. This was chosen as the best Ashura at a local competition. The judges were diverse : Turkish, American and Peruvian :) So this means this Ashura has an internationally proven taste:)I should mention that I am not a picky cook, the amount of the ingredients are subject to change ( I don't even remember for some of them how much I added.) Actually for ashura, in general there is no unique way and ingredient list to cook but major ones: wheat, beans, raisins ( I don't like it so skipped) apricots and of course sugar!Enjoy!

Ingredients:

This would yield ~40 cups

1 cup wheat (I used a little more than that)

1 cup rice (precooked)
1 cup chick peas ( I used canned )
1 cup northern beans ( I used canned) )
1 packet ~ 100 gr of dried apricots (Turkish ones are the best! You can find in many American grocery stores as well) ( diced into small pieces and stayed in water to make it softer)

Figs ( diced into small pieces and stayed in water to make it softer)

~5 cups sugar

the rest is all optional so feel free to add dry nuts/fruits to your taste: Poppy seed

Sesame ( at least 2 full teaspoons, i cooked them) (gives a great flavor!)

Black seedsRaisins

1 table spoon butter

1cup milk

1 table spoon honey

1 pinch salt

1 orange peel, (diced into cubes and boiled in water, discard the water, it has a bitter taste) (thisgives a great flavor,too!)

Half lemon zest

Other options may be but not limited to:
Almonds, peanuts, apple,orange, pear, raisins, prune, any dry or or fresh fruit as desired

Clove, rose water for the flavor

Topping:

walnuts, pistachios , peanuts, sesame, coconut, almonds, pomegranate

Also cinnamon, hazelnuts

How to prepare Asure / Ashura/ Noah's Pudding?

One night before:

(Soak wheat in water before if possible)

Boil wheat in a big pan with 5 cups of water for about 10 minutes and turn the heat. It will adsorb the water and get soften in th morning

The day you cook:Add ~4 cups of water to the precooked wheat and let it boil.

Soak wheat, chick peas and garbanzo beans in water overnight.
Boil them in seperate pans. (You can use canned chick peas and beans).
After they are cooked ,mix them in one big pot and add dry fruits and nuts that remained in water for while and cut into small pieces.
Add to mixture along with sugar and boil for additional 10-15 minutes.
Serve with toppings
*You can add more/less water depending on your preference
Afiyet Olsun, Good Appetite!

12.18.2010

Click here and here to see the winner Asure of the "Best Asure competition"!